SoSol

Happy to join this journey.
 
03/21 Mailed via USPS to Phoenix
03/24 Delivered/Picked Up

It’s about time!
 
 

Tried and was ignored. They won't issue the visa citing the travel ban. They even returned the passport back after 8 months of holding onto it and told us to retry after the ban is lifted. 

Tried and was ignored. They won't issue the visa citing the travel ban. They even returned the passport back after 8 months of holding onto it and told us to retry after the ban is lifted. 

I want to be optimistic but it's very doubtful that they will start issuing them in travel restricted countries. Anyhow still good news us K filers. 

I want to be optimistic but it's very doubtful that they will start issuing them in travel restricted countries. Anyhow still good news us K filers. 

Only to the few K-1 applicants in those restricted countries that meet one of the limited exemptions (e.g. parent of US citizen child, etc.). Those few exempt K-1 holders can travel directly to the US without issues. For example, from the month of April to July, the following K-1 visas were issued in the Schengen Area:
1 K-1 visa in Athens 1 K-1 visa in Bern 1 K-1 visa in Bratislava 1 K-1 visa in Frankfurt 2 K-1 visas in Madrid 1 K-1 visa in Naples 2 K-1 visas in Paris 1 K-1 visa in Prague 1 K-1 visa in Riga 4 K-1 visas in Stockholm 1 K-1 visa in Tallinn 2 K-1 visas in Vienna 1 K-1 visa in Warsaw https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyNIVIssuances/JULY 2020 - NIV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf
https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyNIVIssuances/June 2020 - NIV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf
https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyNIVIssuances/MAY 2020 - NIV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf
https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyNIVIssuances/APRIL 2020 - NIV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf
Everybody else in those restricted countries can't get K-1 visa because of following part of the proclamations: "The Secretary of State shall implement this proclamation as it applies to visas pursuant to such procedures as the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, may establish."
It's not that simple. Look at what the K-1 applicants that got their visas approved before mid-March have to go through:
They have to spend 14 days in an unrestricted country before attempting to enter the US.
Note that the relevant proclamations are in effect indefinitely. Hard to predict when the President would cancel those proclamations.

The path of gaining immigrant intent entry and stay with the K1 used to be quicker. Ours should have arrived in 8 months but everything is turned upside down in COVID environment. We took a look at the CR1 timeline and estimated it was 14 - 18 months in best conditions so we went with the K1.

Hey all - thought I'd update for those wondering about interviews in Guangzhou. We were documentarily qualified 13 days ago and received our interview date yesterday (12 day turnaround). Our interview is in less than a month! We're shocked at how fast it was and considered delaying the interview but don't want to risk having to wait months if we do that. I'll post a consulate review after the interview! 

When we made our decision for the K1 it was around the same time frame. 
K1 8-9 months arrival + 7 - 9 month AOS for green card. 
CR1 14-18 months arrival with Green Card.
We took the quickest path of arrival. 
 

When we made our decision for the K1 it was around the same time frame. 
K1 8-9 months arrival + 7 - 9 month AOS for green card. 
CR1 14-18 months arrival with Green Card.
We took the quickest path of arrival. 
 

When we made our decision for the K1 it was around the same time frame. 
K1 8-9 months arrival + 7 - 9 month AOS for green card. 
CR1 14-18 months arrival with Green Card.
We took the quickest path of arrival. 
 

The path of gaining immigrant intent entry and stay with the K1 used to be quicker. Ours should have arrived in 8 months but everything is turned upside down in COVID environment. We took a look at the CR1 timeline and estimated it was 14 - 18 months in best conditions so we went with the K1.

The path of gaining immigrant intent entry and stay with the K1 used to be quicker. Ours should have arrived in 8 months but everything is turned upside down in COVID environment. We took a look at the CR1 timeline and estimated it was 14 - 18 months in best conditions so we went with the K1.

That's quite fast turnaround time from NVC to the Consulates, must be due to the low case load. And yes they are processing IR1 and CR1s. We K1s are ignored

Thought I’d post London embassy’s response to the EO, took a while to get a straight answer out of them but after emailing back and forth they responded with this:
 
While K-1 visa holders are not subject to Presidential Proclamation 10014, they are not excepted from Presidential Proclamation 9996.  This means that while Presidential Proclamation 9996 remains in effect, it will not be possible for you to travel directly to the United States from the United Kingdom unless you fall under another excepted category within the Presidential Proclamation. Please review the Presidential Proclamation for detailed information.
Travel to the United States from a third country that is not covered by the Presidential Proclamation may be possible, but we advise you verify if the countries to which you intend to travel have implemented travel or other restrictions prior to making travel arrangements.  Please also bear in mind that the Presidential Proclamation suspends travel to the U.S. for any individual who has been physically present in the United Kingdom within 14 days prior to their arrival in the United States. 
Sincerely,
 
 
Chief, Consular Information Unit 
U.S. Embassy, London 
/JW
 

so the EO ‘banning immigration’ til end of year does not effect K1s  I know that’s been said already but I was still stressing! And I’ve liked seeing other countries embassy responses so thought this might be reassuring to others too 

Hello guys from Chicago sunshine  I just landed safely today (24.06.2020) with my K1 visa, I flew from Dubai and my LA flight is tomorrow morning.... here is my travel experience which might be helpful for you guys. 
 
When checked in at Dubai airport, in start the counter lady said that my visa is not listed in their system and currently they are letting only US residents and citizens to fly in US i told her my visa is going to expire soon and i am not going their for tourism, anyway she called her colleague and sorted out this and let me to check in, flight was smooth with no social distancing  but everyone was using mask. I hope i did not get the virus  
 
When Landed in Chicago, it was quite busy at the immigration counters and took me around 45 min to reach the immigration officer, after greeting i handed over my passport along with immigration form and the embassy packet, the office was very nice man, he took finger scan and pic and open my packet and wrote few things on top of it and stamped my passport and handed over to me and told me that i need to get marry within 90 days ......NO QUESTIONS AT ALL ..... all process took 5 min and thats  it..... so K1 is not listed in the current and previous ban list. 
A long journey for us which was full of stress and patience like everyone else came to an end finally ...... I wish you guys all the best .....  

I received an email additional email from Chile embassy today and got A definitive answer! They are only processing a very limited amount of emergency visas for now due to covid, and will resume processing other visas when they're able to open. 😖 They also stated that k1 visas will not be affected by the EO and asked me to check back next month for appointments.

I believe they are doing this because of the travel ban for the countries issued (China, schengen, Brazil)  and not for the ones who are not in the travel ban. Countries excluded will eventually proceed and issue k1's i guess!

"The department's moves to reopen the consulate in Wuhan come as it also looks to bring people back into work around the world. According to a State Department spokesperson, 97 overseas posts are in Phase I and 35 are in Phase II of reopening." https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/09/politics/consulate-general-wuhan/index.html

This is a bit late but, good news for me and others needing Japan to relax a little.  Hopefully things will get back to normal-ish soon. 
 
"Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lifted a coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and four other remaining areas on Monday, ending the restrictions nationwide..." JTB began booking tours to Hawaii,  dates stating in mid-July. Hawaii's mandatory 14-day quarantine is set to end June 30, 2020. Guam will lift their mandatory 14-day quarantine starting July 1 for tourist from Japan, S. Korea, and Thailand.  
Guam and Hawaii have a P.O.E. so anyone short on time from JP, SK, TH can take a nice trip. 
Hopefully these changes will be reciprocal and Japan will let US passports, or at the least their own permanent residents, back in.  
 
 
https://www.pncguam.com/quarantine-to-be-lifted-for-tourists-july-1-limited-dine-in-service-resumes-friday/
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/japan-lifts-coronavirus-emergency-remaining-areas-70864494

Not sure if it's any indication, but some of these Weibo accounts that offer help for student visas are saying appointments for July has been cancelled. Could mean diplomats have not returned to China yet

😭 We will just have to wait until they return.

他们是根据B1/B2 visa "第一个可选的预约“时间估计出来, 只有广州办理K1. 现在广州领事馆都不办公所以我们的K1不会有什么进展
https://www.ustraveldocs.com/cn_zh/index.html?firstTime=No
 
They are using B1/B2 visa appointment availability to publish these times. Currently B1/B2 in Beijing has earliest availability at the end of November, Guangzhou and Chengdu both have first appointments in June. 

@Leah88
 
I received an email from NVC 2 days after I called saying that the case is being transferred to the embassy. I used the NVC Case Number and checked the status on ceac.state.gov and the status there shows Ready. I was on hold after dialing the NVC 603 number for about an hour before I got through to an agent.